Month / June 2008

Here is a screencast I put together showing a few features of Ohm Force’s wicked delay plug-in OhmBoyz. I really think OhmBoyz is the best delay I own. After watching the video I encourage you to head over to the Ohm Force website and download the demo.

A service I use often is TinyURL. It takes any long web address and makes a permanent short version of it. It’s very useful for a service like Twitter where each message you type is constrained to 140 characters. It’s also a nice thing to do when your emailing someone a URL from Expedia or Amazon where sometimes URLs can extend three or more lines long.

This morning I discovered tinySONG.com. You search for a song and then it gives you a small URL for it. When your friend clicks it the song opens at Grooveshark.com and plays. Here’s an example:

Of course this is a way for Grooveshark to get people using their music service but as you see there is no sign in or anything happening before your song plays so it’s an enjoyable experience.

As I type this blog post Im looking at the Grooveshark website and you know what? It’s an interesting site and music model. It seems tinySONG has worked in getting my eyes focused over there. As a user you can get credits for free music by making recommendations and has a label you can earn royalties. Have you used Grooveshark? What you think of it?

I’m performing tonight in Frankfurt at the u60311. It’s a wicked club built inside a U-Bahn station. I played there in 2001 with Chris Liebing and it was quiet an experience. It was so packed that as soon as we starting playing the crowd pushed forward right onto the stage. We had to stop and wait for security to force everyone back then start again.

I have a general rule that if it takes four and a half hours or less to get to a gig by train (or car) thats a better choice than flying. In Germany the Die Bahn system is excellent. If you order your tickets a few weeks in advance you can get a “Spar Preise” aka savings price. In fact, the Spar Preise is usually much cheaper than airline tickets or car rental. I always go first class on the train. It’s not much of a cost difference (the promoters pay it anyway). You can request things like a small private cubby, non-smoking car and to be in the quiet zone. I say yes to all that because I like my sanity. You get leather seats, a power outlet, a table, waiter service a bathroom in every car (no waiting like on an airplane) and a view of Germany crusing by at over 200KPH.

For years now, iStock has changed how the world looks. It’s time to change how it sounds. Welcome to iStockaudio. Starting a little later on today, we will begin accepting submissions from musicians, composers, recording engineers and audio artists. We want music, spoken word tracks, sound effects, ambient loops, wild noises, field recordings – we want it all. – www.istockphoto.com/audio

If you want to become a content producer for iStock and sell audio by earning a royalty on clips sold, now is the perfect time to sign up. To become a contributor you have to pass an evaluation. It’s a simple “test”; you just send in 3 samples of your work. For more details and some very important info if you have a publishing deal: click here

Out with the old, in with the new. When Ableton released Live 7 they simplified the way to bring in audio and midi from an external device such as a hardware synthesizer or drum machine. If you use external hardware and your not using the Live’s new External Instrument Device read on.

So let’s take a look at the old way of bringing an external instrument into Live. You would have to create an audio channel, select it’s input and arm monitoring. You would also have to create a separate Midi channel, choose then Midi Interface (Midi To) and Midi Channel.

Now for the new imporved method. Go to the Live Device browser (upper left side of the interface) and under Intruments drag an External Instrument device to a Midi track. On the device you can choose all the parameters that were previously spread over two channels: Midi To, Midi Channel and Audio Input. You also have the additional Latency parameter which is usefull if you notice your hardware synth or drum machine notes are coming in a little late. The best part of the External Instrument Device is now that you set it up you can save the preset and your now one click away from adding any hardware you have into your current song. I have seperate presets for all my hardware synths and drum machines.

The National Association of Music Merchants otherwise known as NAMM met for their summer event last week in Austin, Texas Nashville, TN. Here’s the new gear and software I personally thought was interesting. I know some of these are not actual NAMM debuts but they fall in the “outed summer 08″ category and were featured at the show.

Korg nanoSERIES. These small, flat and inexpensive controllers are just what a lot of musicians have been waiting for. These are perfect to toss in a laptop bag. The nanoKEY, nanoPAD and nanoKONTROL will be available in October and will each be under $150. link

The Moog Guitar. Some people are scratching their heads on this one. A Guitar from Moog? Would Bob approve? According to Moog (the company) this was being planned when Bob was still with us. Personally, I have no problem with the idea. My main gripe so far is that all the video demos I’ve seen of the M.G. in action are not too impressive. The first of the Moog Guitars available is the The Paul Vo Collector Edition which will cost you $6,495.00. link

Arsenal Audio. A new brand from API. A few years ago a friend of mine brought a filled API lunchbox into my studio and hooked it up to my microphone. My voice never sounded so good and never has since. API as a company knows what they are doing so when they launch a new division I’m ready to give it a chance. I’m not totally sure why they need to branch off. Are these built in China or something? If they sound good I won’t care. Three products kick it off: the V14 4 Band VPR 500 Format Equalizer (fits in a lunchbox), the R 20 2 Channel Mic Pre and R 24 2 Channel 4 Band EQ. link

MOTU Digital Performer 6. I’m an Ableton Live fanatic but competition is what keeps the sequencer space evolving at high speed so DP6 is very welcome. This is the true Mac sequencer. Was born on a mac and always lived there so let’s give the guy some respect. What are the new tidbits DP6 has to offer? A new interface, Track comping, Masterworks Leveler plug-in, ProVerb Convolution plug-in, Final Cut Pro Integration, Enhanced Pro-Tools HD support and Direct Audio CD burning. Not bad! link

SPL Phonitor. Imagine you could mix solely in headphones. Imagine you wouldn’t have to pay for a studio space somewhere far away from cranky neighbors. The Phonitor could be the first product that could make this dream a reality. This is a high end piece of hardware costing about $2k. You spend a few minutes dialing in parameters to match the sound of your speakers with your headphones and viola! I can’t wait to read reviews and hear from users of this product. We need this to work! link

So those are the new things that really peaked my interest. Roland continued to bore me with it’s new Juno Stage and of course there were more amazing Melodyne Direct Note Access demos. Sonic State and Sound on Sound have some great videos from the show floor worth checking out. Did I miss something you really liked?

SoundCloud is a new start up from Berlin and I really like their product. It’s a uber Web 2.0 site which helps you send and receive music. It has some unique features up it’s sleeve including a social network aspect to it. To top it off it’s a very pretty and usable site.

Instead of using Rapidshare or Sendspace which are loaded with ugly adverts and time limits I would give SoundCloud a try. You can upload audio files in any size or format to SoundCloud. You can mark them as public or private. SoundCloud creates a waveform for your audio file. My favorite feature of SoundCloud is the ability of users to put markers anywhere long on the waveform and leave a notes. So for example if I want some feedback on my new song and I send it to a friend via SoundCloud and then he can place a marker at a certain point and leave the note “right here it gets weak” or “this section is perfect don’t change it”.

Another advantage to SoundCloud is you can add artwork and metadata to your songs. SoundClick takes the the metadata to the next level with input boxes for bpm, tags and a link to buy the release commercially. By the way if your selling your music you can set SoundCloud to only allow your files to be streamed not downloaded.

As I mentioned SoundCloud is also a social network. You can follow people, have friends, etc… Right now the site is still in beta but I have a few invites. If you would like one send me an email. (I just sent the last of the invites I had out. You can still get into the SoundCloud beta by requesting to join on their site.)